Just spent my first hour with Wall of Insanity 2 and wow... my heart is still racing. 😅 The devs really stepped up the horror elements here. The way the shadows move and the enemy AI keeps you on your toes is brilliant. Has anyone else started playing? Let me know what you think of the new mechanics in the comments! 👇

SHOULD I PLAY HELSKATE? Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater fans should definitely give this a look. That said, you might want to wait until it’s had a few updates. Helskate is a hack-and-slash roguelike that also happens to be a skateboarding game, and it just hit early access. It’s a ton of fun to shift between monster slaying and skateboarding tricks, but I ran into several issues during my playtime. If you pick it up now, you’ll probably have a good time, but I suspect it’ll be much better once it’s had more time in the oven.

[Music credit: "Violent and heavy metal with a sense of  urgency " by Koseyu] WHAT'S AWESOME: 00:30 WHAT SUCKS: 01:53 Learn more about Devil May Cry: Peak of Combat here!

SHOULD I PLAY WAYFINDER? Avoid it for the time being. Wayfinder’s early access release has been a complete disaster, and beyond the botched launch are deeper issues that need to be addressed. On the night of Wayfinder’s release, the game was completely unplayable for me. Not only could I not log in, but absolutely nothing happened when I clicked the login button. All I could do was stare at the menu and hope the game would be playable eventually.

PLAY IT OR SKIP IT? Skip it unless you’re a superfan of anything inspired by H.P. Lovecraft or you’re dying for a Metroidvania. The Last Case of Benedict Fox follows a demon-possessed detective who has the ability to jump into the memories of the dead. Using these powers, he’s attempting to find out the dark truth behind what happened to his father, a man heavily involved in occult rituals. It’s a great setup, but the experience is quickly dragged down by clunky controls and frustrating level design.

There’s never been a better time to be a gamer that loves creepypasta. You can find all kinds of creepypasta games across nearly every possible genre. Bem Feito is a deceptively cute life sim filled with sinister secrets. World of Horror is a 1-bit adventure game that pays homage to classic creepypasta tales as well as the works of H.P. Lovecraft and Junji Ito. There are multiplayer games inspired by the

SHOULD I PLAY DIMENSION HUNTER? Check this one out if you’re into roguelites and like bullet hell mechanics, but skip it if you’re not that into the genre. Dimension Hunter is a fun and fast-paced dungeon crawler that’s easy to pick up and play, but aside from its awesome pixel art, it doesn’t do anything that makes it stand out from the crowd. It might not be the most original game, but there are plenty of cool power-ups and weird monsters to fight, so die-hard roguelite fans should definitely give it a try.

One of the pixel aty animations from our game Hungry Horrors, all hand-made in Aseprite. Hungry Horrors is a roguelite deck-building game where you serve dishes to monsters inspired by myth and folklore. Add Hungry Horrors to your Steam wishlist here: Buggane Facts The Buggane is a terrifying creature from Manx folklore, often depicted as a large, hairy, goblin-like monster. It features prominently in Hungry Horrors and offers unique challenges to players.

SHOULD I PLAY DEVIL SLAYER RAKSASI? Totally play this. Devil Slayer Raksasi takes the top-down roguelite approach of The Binding of Isaac and layers on a dark fantasy vibe that would be at home in a FromSoft game. This tough but addictive combination left me wanting to keep playing even after I’d wrapped up the demo. Thankfully it has multiple characters to try! PLAY IT FOR YOURSELF From December 23, 2023, through January 7, 2024, TapTap is running our Pocket Playfest Winter Edition. That means you don't need to take our review as the final word; you can try playing this game yourself! If you live in the United States or Canada, you can test out any of the ten games featured in the Pocket Playfest using our cloud gaming technology. And even if you're not in the US or Canada, you can still vote on your favorite games and get entered in a giveaway for some incredible prizes.

SHOULD I PLAY HELLBOY WEB OF WYRD? If you’re not a die-hard Hellboy fan, you should probably skip this one. Hellboy Web of Wyrd looks like a B.P.R.D. comic brought to life. It’s got spectacular visuals and excellent voice acting (including a lead performance from the late, great Lance Reddick), but it’s just not very fun to play. The sluggish combat and buggy gameplay sapped most of the fun out this game.

SHOULD I PLAY TITAN QUEST: ULTIMATE EDITION? If you’ve been searching for a microtransaction-free alternative to Diablo Immortal or are craving some old-school hack-and-slash action, Titan Quest: Ultimate Edition deserves a closer look. While this action-RPG definitely shows its age, it’s an addictive game that runs perfectly on mobile. I had a ton of fun fighting my way through hordes of monsters, picking up piles of loot, and building a character that was a perfect fit for my playstyle.

SHOULD I PLAY WYTCHWOOD ON MOBILE? Definitely check it out if you haven’t already played it on other platforms. Wytchwood is a cozy crafting game with some seriously spooky vibes. I tested the game on iPhone and Android, and both versions ran perfectly. Moving around and navigating menus is a breeze, and the colorful, creepy visuals look absolutely stunning. It’s the perfect game to play on a dark, stormy night.

PLAY IT OR SKIP IT? Play it if you’re at all a fan of Vampire Survivors and its many clones and imitators. Bio Prototype takes the one-tiny-character-versus-hundreds-of-baddies and adds in a healthy dose of science. You play as a lab experiment gone wrong. Instead of just leveling up and unlocking a growing list of power-ups, you earn both internal and external body parts and must work out a functioning evolutionary path for your creation. This extra layer of depth adds a ton to an already addictive genre of games.

Towaga: Among Shadows is a casual but insanely fun action-adventure game with beautiful 2D visuals and smooth animation that explores a world of darkness from the perspective of a light-bringing warrior. After an hour of monster slaying, I’ve come to enjoy Towaga: Among Shadows’s simple shoot ‘em up gameplay and storyline. In Towaga: Among Shadows, I embarked on an adventure to save a stunning Aztec-themed world from evil monsters seeking to ravage everything in its sight. I had to battle against various creatures using abilities and a beam of light that I could redirect willingly with the swoosh and hold of a finger. I’ve found the story mode more enjoyable so far, despite only dabbling in the game’s survival mode, but I’ve yet to play multiplayer.

PLAY IT OR SKIP IT? Play it if you’re looking for a more lighthearted, casual-friendly way to pass some time killing the undead, but be prepared to encounter some jank. Undawn is the latest MMO from Level Infinite, the same publisher that brought us Tower of Fantasy, and it shares some similarities with that game...and some big differences. Most notably, Undawn trades in the more traditional mix of fantasy, sci-fi, and anime aesthetics for a modern world that has been wrecked by a zombie apocalypse. This game’s vision of the end of the world is anything but generic, though. Even though some elements are frustrating or underdeveloped, I can’t help but feel charmed by this weird little game.

SHOULD I PLAY DEVIL MAY CRY: PEAK OF COMBAT? It’s worth checking out, but you might want to keep your expectations in check, especially if you played the beta. I was really impressed with Devil May Cry: Peak of Combat during its beta, but since then, the combat system has been seriously downgraded. Characters now have only one basic attack button, which makes it much harder to string together combos. The original weapon switching system has been replaced with character swapping, which makes individual characters less customizable. It’s still a good mobile action game, but it’s lacking the kind of complexity I crave from a

ULTRA RARE Gale-Begetting Heavenly Four, Tetra Sylphid The esper form of four wind fairy sisters who fly using the large wings sprouting from their heads. It is said that they possess the power to command a flurry of colossal tornadoes, and once they become enraged, there is no one capable of bringing the ensuing chaos under control. Roaring Thunderclap, Ramuh A wizened sage who wields lightning to a frightening degree. Though there are some black mages who can control lightning, Ramuh's breadth of skill and destructive power are far superior. His lightning is believed to be that which judges the corrupt, and those with guilt in their hearts fear him to no end.

SHOULD I PLAY PLANTS VS. ZOMBIES 3? If you’re a fan of either of the previous mainline Plants vs. Zombies game, it’s worth giving this one a try. Plants vs. Zombies 3 isn’t revolutionary, and it’s certainly not the masterpiece that the original game was, but it provides great, bite-sized doses of strategic undead-slaying fun. Some fans might balk at the ways in which this entry simplifies some elements of the series, but I ended up enjoying it quite a bit more than the more money-hungry

SHOULD I PLAY DUNGEONS 4? Play it, especially if you love real-time strategy games. Dungeons 4 offers an insanely fun real-time strategy experience that covers the basics that fans like myself have grown to love from games like Age of Empires 2 and Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne. Its campaign introduces a fresh perspective into the standard formula by making the player the villain instead of the classic hero. This game is all about being absolutely evil, and I loved every second of that wickedness. While ruling over demons and undead monsters does take some time and attention,

SHOULD I PLAY WORLD OF HORROR? Love Junji Ito? Can’t get enough of Lovecraft? If you’re a fan of terrifying tales, World of Horror is a game you won’t want to miss. An old god has turned its gaze on your sleepy Japanese town, and it’s up to you to investigate the creepy events happening around you. Why is your neighbor suddenly hoarding eels? What’s up with the scissor-carrying lady that’s been wandering around your school?